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Vegetable Gardening

old bag of Ironite

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)

last year

last modified: last year

I found an old (many years) bag of Ironite, that I haven't used in ages. It is NOT Pennington branded, and it does NOT say it can be used for vegetables. Can I assume this is the old Ironite (before reformulation) that was rich in lead and arsenic? If so, I will dispose of it. Trouble with old bags of bad stuff is that they never say they're bad stuff. Also troublesome that the original name Ironite was preserved in the new, safe formulation. That is, there is BAD Ironite, and GOOD Ironite. That wasn't too smart.

Also, while I'm at it, the new, safe Ironite is marketed both as "Ironite" and "Ironite II". Can I assume that's just because the former is 1-0-0, and the latter is 1-0-1?

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Comments (4)

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
OK, I have some input from nursery and extension folks. So, FYI ...

The original Ironite worked pretty well in lowering pH, and adding iron as a micronutrient. It came from metal-rich mine tailings, which included considerable lead and arsenic. As such, it eventually was labelled as NOT approved for food crops.The old product came to an end when the mine supplying tailings (Iron King Mine of the Humbolt Smelter in Arizona) used by Ironite was declared an EPA Superfund site around 2005 and closed. I believe those tailings had iron in the form of iron sulfide which, when mixed with water, became very acidic, thereby acidifying the soil. They may even have added some sulfuric acid to the mix. EPA has now cleaned up residential properties in the drainage path of the mine, and is only now addressing cleanup at the mine itself. Ironite is now owned by Pennington, and it is a totally different product. It doesn't have lead and arsenic in it anymore, and is now EPA-approved for food crops. So IF the Ironite label says Pennington AND says it is OK for food crops, you're good to go. If not, GET RID OF IT.

Soil alkalinity is reduced largely with sulfur, and Ironite is presently about 10% sulfur.

Again, marketing-wise, it was really pretty dumb to keep the name Ironite, as there are many sources out there (older, but without dates) that say, flat-out, that Ironite is bad, because of arsenic and lead. People will be finding these old notices regularly, and be repelled from using any stuff with that brand name.
0
porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI
last year
That is good information, thanks for posting. I do have some Ironite in the barn, but it's nowhere near as old as 2005; mid-2010's maybe.
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daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
Original Author
last year
Well, you need to check the label. Not clear when they actually stopped selling the old Ironite.
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porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI
last year
"Well, you need to check the label. Not clear when they actually stopped selling the old Ironite."

Good point.
0

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